I'll be heading down the Goldy over the weekend and have some spare time Saturday morning. I'm planning to use this time to head out to some hills, and the Springbrook climb seems to more than meet the 'some hills' requirement! I would however love some advice from anyone who's done the climb. Current thoughts are to heading up from Mudgeeraba. So:

- What's the traffic likely to be like hitting the climb at ~6am? Any car issues with it being a narrow road, or drivers generally OK?- Is up and back from Mudgeeraba the best way to go?- Just how difficult is it compared to say, Mt. Glorious?- Repeat of above statement with the Best of All Lookout extension?

Springbrook is one of my favorite rides, even though I've only ridden it once, going back for a 2nd crack on Sunday.

Yes going from Mudgeeraba is the most direct way, you can ride out from any point of the coast as you don't hit hills until you cross over the M1 to the western side.

Roads is in great condition, just be careful with the two single lane wooden bridges and the one way section a bit further up the mountain, I guess having a small flashing light can assist with cars approaching on the down track as they have to give way to up coming traffice.

Easy grade all the way to where Pine Creek road goes right to get to the Numinbah Valley, just past the water tank on the left...kicks up a bit where the road splits but it's nothing really, then it's pretty good up to past the fudge shop and becomes undulating to up past the turn off for Purlingbrook falls...there is a shop/cafe to refuel at there.

As for the Best of All section...I haven't done it, it's pretty steep for the last bit, Mr MM has done it and informs me that his Garmin shows some numbers in the 20%+ range

I think overall the climb, excluding the last bit, I find that it is easier than Nebo as its pure climbing no undulating bits...you can get into a good rhythm and ride it out.

Traffic is good Springbrook doesn't get huge tourist numbers so it's mostly residents and they are very used to cyclists on the roads...used to family that lived there so I've driven it stacks of times.I've found it much quiter than Nebo.

Going back...three options...go back the way you came straight down for about a 60 k ride if you go all the way up to the topGo down Pine Creek road to the valley then go right to go back towards Nerang or go left and head over the border then back in via Tweed coast for more hils and something over the 100ks for the loop

Going up from Mudgeeraba is far easier than the goat track (Pine Creek Rd), so if it's your first time I'd recommend that. Just keep in mind, the actual Lookout was closed last time I was there. Doesn't affect the ride just the trail from the end of the road.

Also there are still lots of road closures due to landslides, Mt Tamborine goat track, Natural Bridge & Clagiraba Rd.

That's right no shortcut, you'll have to keep going to Mt Nathan Rd.As you ride past the turn off you'll be able to see the where the bridge used to be that was lost/damaged in the floods early in the year.

Dimma wrote:That's right no shortcut, you'll have to keep going to Mt Nathan Rd.As you ride past the turn off you'll be able to see the where the bridge used to be that was lost/damaged in the floods early in the year.

Cool, thanks for confirming that, by this stage of our ride I will be driving the sag wagon I think...but the boys will need to man up and go the long way around!

Cheers to all for the tips - I made it up there this morning and they proved helpful! A few thoughts from the ride:

- The climb to the point where the road splits was fantastic, made even better with the sun rising though the trees;- Things got tougher after Springbrook, requiring a brief rest at Hardys lookout. Also, it was wet and slippery up Repeater Station rd, even with no rain anywhere else;- Couldn't see a thing from Best of All lookout through the clouds!- Descending Repeater Station rd was a bit nervy being wet and slippery, but the rest of the descent was awesome.

Loved it overall, though will skip the best of all section next time and possibly go for the cross border loop. Thanks again all.

Yep, our turn this Saturday (25th May). Bunch of us (Crouching Tiger dudes) are parking at Mudgeeraba, doing the ride and back down for coffee/breakfast at the Cafe Cino. Little apprehensive but I did do the Robbie McEwen's Gran Fondo without stopping, so hope I can make it all the way up Looking forward to it even though I hate hills with a passion.

CaptainSlow wrote:Cheers to all for the tips - I made it up there this morning and they proved helpful! A few thoughts from the ride:

- The climb to the point where the road splits was fantastic, made even better with the sun rising though the trees;- Things got tougher after Springbrook, requiring a brief rest at Hardys lookout. Also, it was wet and slippery up Repeater Station rd, even with no rain anywhere else;- Couldn't see a thing from Best of All lookout through the clouds!- Descending Repeater Station rd was a bit nervy being wet and slippery, but the rest of the descent was awesome.

Loved it overall, though will skip the best of all section next time and possibly go for the cross border loop. Thanks again all.

Five of us did it this morning and encountered very wet roads after Purling Brook Falls and the wind was a blasting southerly, however we all made it fine and I did it from Mudgeeraba non stop in 2hrs (30km's). I am quite fit for someone at 51 but not really a fast climber as I am too heavy for that (78kgs). Loved the ride and have to agree with all of CaptainSlow's comments, especially the best part about the initial climb with the sun coming out. The section after Purling Brook falls is a real tester as there is hardly any letup and the grade really kicks in. Just ground it out listening to music. Some of the steeper sections proved challenging because when I got out the saddle, the back wheel slipped on the wet road and leaves and just had to sit the whole way up.

I would rate this as the best ride I have done for a while and that is from someone who hates hills with a passion, that is how good this ride is.

Give it a go and make sure you pick a nice day so you can marvel at the view at the lookout.

darkelf921 wrote:After reading this thread, I ended up riding Springbrook. It was a brilliant ride. So thank you for all of the advice

One of our group had a front tyre blow out as we were descending. Here are the results http://youtu.be/yhRNwntFu-U Scary but somehow he managed to stay upright.

That could have been soooo much worse obviously.Kudos for keeping it upright, that section there is pretty steep. I guess that's the thing we dread the most when descending at speed, you just have to believe it won't happen to you, otherwise you'd never go out for a ride!

Not to take away from the pant-shittingness of the situation, but on a straight/gently curving road like that it's not thaaaat bad... just keep the bike straight and ease off slowly and you'd be pretty unlucky to go down. Scary as hell though!

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